The price has not been revealed, although the WSJ has said that it was a fraction of the price that AOL paid for it two years ago. In April, AOL threatened to shut the site down unless a buyer could be found.

Bebo has been a victim of the onward march of the dominant Facebook. Like the once market-leading MySpace, struggling since its acquisition by News Corp, Bebo has suffered from a falling number of users. Bebo has never been as popular in the US as it has been in Europe. Analysts have also speculated on the future of My Space. Earlier this year, News Corp's owner Rupert Murdoch admitted that the company had "made mistakes" with MySpace.